Sunday, May 01, 2011

"Brickwork" Abstract 12x12 Acrylic on canvas




This weekend was too nice outside to stay in and paint. The springlike weather I've been craving for, for so long, is truly finally here, and I thought best to spend it outdoors rather than in. But, to start off the month of May, I thought that I would do something very simple to post and I started these two small abstract painting a few days ago. There's not a lot of thought that went into these but rather what colors should I use to make them look pleasing to the eye. As I was looking at my two drawers of paint tubes, I spent a little bit of time looking through them, picking up the paint tubes and reading the colors on the labels. I was looking to find colors that went well together. I chose to use mostly warm colors and added a cool color by way of a bright turquoise to give it a punch of color. Just to give you an idea how I did this, I painted the entire canvas and its sides black. Then I used two plastic putty knives in two different sizes and made bold strokes with lots of thick paint that was added and mixed with molding paste on to the canvas. I then varnished both paintings several times to get a high gloss finish on them. I used the varnish straight from the container, no mixing with water and I noticed it has a glass like finish on it, which is what I like about it. Surprisingly, they are drying relatively fast but still feel tacky to the touch, so it will take a few days to completely dry. These two paintings were a joy to paint and they seem to look good too.



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